


Lance Gets a Hat

by AnAngryRat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 19:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9782285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnAngryRat/pseuds/AnAngryRat
Summary: Lance starts a new trend and Keith is reluctant to join.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Things I learned from writing this-Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy is hella gay.

    

No one knew when or how he got it just that one day Lance showed up wearing a galaxy print snapback. Shiro raised an eyebrow before returning to reading an Altean children’s book, Pidge opened their mouth to comment then thought better, Coran and Allura discuss the human purposes of a hat that was designed that way, Keith ignored him, and Hunk was the one who acknowledged its existence verbally.

            “Uh…Nice hat Lance.”

            Lance preened under the weak praise. “Thanks.” He smiles so genuinely Keith had to stop from punching himself in the face.

 

            The hat, unlike many, many, other things in their day to day space life, stayed. The only time they saw Lance without it, was during battle or after a shower. Otherwise it was firmly planted on his head. After a month or so it began to show wear and tear but Lance continued to wear it proud.

            Then one day in an elongated pause after a difficult discussion of whether they had enough room to hold all the Galran hostages something changed. Lance flipped the snapback backwards and began a small but mildly familiar beat. Keith was still trying to place it when all the other paladins began to join in.

            _“Now here's a little story I've got to tell/ About three bad brothers you know so well/”_ Lance started. Pidge picked up Adrock, and Hunk took M.C.A. Shiro was just backup beats. Keith finally knew the rap having heard it on the radio.

            _“His name is M.C.A., I said, "Howdy" he said, "Hi"’_ Keith sang unknowingly joining in. Silence. The entire room went nuts and Lance started the next verse.

 

It becomes a thing.

 

            They are flying the lions through the heavily asteroid ridden rings of an allied planet avoiding enemy fire. Keith was in the white space he often if not always fell in during battle. The rest of the paladins calling out occasionally to help dodge or fire at the enemy. It was necessary to get the near psychic link to work. Lance was the only one who would occasionally say stupid shit over the com. But not as often as Keith had expected when they first started battling.

            The equivalent of an EMP went off and all the lions still. Pidge is explaining what happened, Hunk is finding out how to fix it, Shiro is calming everyone down and Keith is pathetically pounding against the dash of his lion. The fucker is so inconsistent with its loyalty. Keith wanted to kick something.

            _“Here we are,/Born to be kings,/We're the princes of the universe,/Here we belong,/Fighting to survive in a war with the darkest powers…”_ Lance hummed.

            “Not the time Lance,” Shiro cut in.

            “ _We’re the princes of the universe!”_ Lance sang over him.

            _“Here we belong/Fighting for survival,”_ Hunk belted. Keith could hear the tears and rolled his eyes.

 _“We've come to be the rulers of your world,”_ Pidge barely got out laughing towards the end.

“Come on,” Shiro said around an obvious smile. “We need to b—”

 _“I am immortal/ I have inside me blood of kings/I have no rival,/No man can be my equal/Take me to the future of your world,”_ Lance continued. Keith can’t help it. He’s laughing. Hard. Shiro is too. Allura is yelling at them about power failure, and professionalism. The lions start up at the exact moment Lance’s composure started to crack and his giggles cut through the song. They fight on.

Lance does not stop singing until they enemy ship is blown up.

 

 

            “We have to attack first and ask questions later,” Keith argues. Lance rolls his eyes and readjusted the snapback with two hands. Shiro sighs somewhere in the background.

            “That’s your response to everything! Don’t you have some semblance of faith?”

            “Not after we’ve been fucked over so many times. You should know that well enough having been captured.”

            Lance jerks back as if slapped. “Or maybe you just like to beat the shit out of people. It’s probably the alien DNA, just saying!”

            Lance’s face slips to regret in an instance but Keith can’t focus. The fight drains out of Keith. Because…because… He walks away and is running by the time he hits the hallway. He avoids everyone for the next three days despite Shiro’s numerous attempts at contact. Better for them. Monster Keith stays away and everyone’s safe.

            One night there’s a knock outside his door. He doesn’t answer it. The outside com switches on without him anyway and he stares at it for a second. Pidge. But that means—

            _“Baby come back/I was a fool you see…”_

Keith opens the door and tackles Lance before he can finish that fucking song. Lance is laughing the entire time. Keith starts looking for the other perpetrators but all he finds is a winking Lance beneath his thighs. Keith pants a bit from the exertion and Lance is gasping to recover from laughing. It gets really quiet really fast. Keith leans back on the balls of his feet ready to leave, but Lance stops him with hands on his hips.

            “I’m sorry. You’re actually more inclined to stare at something until comprehension dawns on you than kill it.” Lance swallows. “I knew it was a sore area and I shouldn’t have said it.”

            Keith is a little surprised that he’s not surprised. “That’s fine.”

            “Apology accepted?”

            “Apology accepted.”

            Lance smiles and resets his hat. “See you at dinner then.” He jogs off. Keith can still feel the echo of his warmth.

 

            The world turns and everybody becomes accustomed to Lance’s singing. Hunk almost always joins in. Pidge only when they’re stressed. Shiro if everyone else is singing. Keith, on a good day, will join if he knows the lyrics. Allura and Coran usually start writing things down trying to see if they can through some magic get the songs. Their curiosity is boundless and they often ask Pidge, of all people, what the background of such things are. Who are _Queen_? _The Who_? _Yes_? David Bowie was bi? What’s his life history? What is dabbing?

            It’s a comfort and the no-win attitude of the castle lightens a little.

            Keith is taking a late night stress walk when he comes across the gazing room and a small Lance. The hat is off for once and he’s aimlessly fiddling with it, chin on his knees.

            Keith is staring. He knows he is. He needs to stop staring. He can’t.

            “I miss them.” Lance says. The words echo loudly in the quiet night. Keith’s heart clenches fearing he got caught. Then Lance begins singing _Hey_ , _Jude_ the words quick and falling over each other…cut with hiccups…and a soft gasp.

Keith only knows he’s moving when he hears his own footsteps. Lance whips to face him looking horrified, but Keith only sees it for a second before he’s hugging him. Lance rubs his face in his neck. They sit there under the stars in silence for only a few soft moments before things turn to shit.

 

Lance gets captured while singing _We Are Not Going to Make It_ by The Presidents of the United States of America. It takes three different broken dummies and countless broken objects because Keith is so mad at the irony before it hits him that Lance is gone.

 

 

Keith is certain that the last thing Lance hears before his com is shut off by the enemy is “Godfuckingdammityoufuckingfuckeroffucks are you trying to get captured to prove my point?!”

Keith is not proud of himself. Pidge after a late sleepless night will let it slip that they were proud of his foul mouth slip.

The last thing Keith hears is _“Deep in my heart/I do believe/We're not gonna make it/Oh, no!”_

Shiro is looking over Allura’s footage of the battle trying to figure out what when wrong when he slips. There’s a hole where a monitor used to be.

“Shiro,” Allura asks uncertain.

“He planned to get caught,” is his answer before storming off. Keith misses Lance’s crooning. Pidge coughs and waves Allura over to look at their coordinates and place it on the map. The room starts up again. Hunk blinks sleepily at the gun he’s adjusting and Keith still misses Lance’s singing.

 

They find him, Keith thinks it’s too late. Because it’s always too late. It’s been a month. There’s no way he’s still alive. Keith has his stupid hat in his lion. The only one who knows he’s broken into Lance’s room to steal it is Coran. He’s accepted the worst case scenario despite everyone’s hope. It’s easier to continue moving if he’s dead and they’re looking for a body.

Keith slips on the rescue mission. According to later reports he was so brutal that the Galra began to override their programming and run away. Keith at the time, was mad about a stupid rescue mission for someone dead, that he may have possibly had feelings for, and was working through his own issues.

That’s beside the point. When Keith finds him he’s singing _I Want to Break Free_ on the floor of a too small room. Keith has possibly two broken ribs and is coughing up blood but he still has to refrain from punching the dramatic baby.

            “You got my coordinates, Allura?”

            “Yes, we are preparing to blast you out of there.”

            “Thanks.”

            “Is he there?” Hunk asks.

            Keith turns him over. He blinks up with one eye the other swollen closed.

            “Heeey, babe,” Lance mutters.

            “He’s alive.” Keith says. Lance’s eyes roll back into his head. “Maybe.”

            Keith barely has time to shove on and activate Lance’s helmet before they are shot out into space. The Red Lion swings out to take them into her mouth and into relative safety. Lance gains some consciousness during the brief ride to the castle.

            “You’re covered in blood,” he says.

            Keith coughs up more blood. “Thanks.”

            _“You are my sunshine_.”

            “No.”

            _“My only sunshine.”_

            “Hunk can hear you. Bet he’s jealous. Being the yellow one and all.” Keith chokes on the last word and they land. Lance laughs and it must have been painful because he’s out once again.

            Keith barely makes it out of the Lion. Coran is there to catch them. He doesn’t remember much after that.

 

            Keith falls out of the healing pod and into Hunk’s arms. It’s delightful. He decides immediately to tell no one.

            “Whoa there buddy, let’s get you some food,” Hunk says and Keith might cry. He’s so nice. Keith doesn’t. He just smiles.

            “Thanks.”

            Hunk stands him up. “No problem.” He wanders from view and Keith looks around and runs a hand through his hair.

            “How long was I out?”

            “A day.” Shiro answers. Keith nods.

            “Lance?”

            Shiro nods towards another healing pod. “Couple of more days.”

            “Oh.”

            “So…” Shiro says pausing long enough for everyone to make themselves scarce.

            Keith raises an eyebrow. “Yes.”

            “You and Lance.”

            Keith squints at him.

            Shiro makes a crude hand gesture.

            Keith stomach curls on itself and his face flushes so hard he’s sure his ears are red. “No!”

            Shiro studies him. “But…”

            “But…maybe.”

            Shiro slaps him on the back and Keith nearly collapses, still weak from his stay in the pod. “Good luck. The entire team is…encouraging to say the least.”

            Shiro passes Hunk with a tray of food on his way out. Hunk doesn’t comment on the color of Keith’s face.

 

            Lance falls out of the pod and amongst all the commotion Keith finds enough room to put the stupid faded galaxy hat on the other boys head.

 

            Lance plops down next to Keith one late night a week later. Keith doesn’t say anything and they watch the stars together.

            “I missed your singing.” Keith admits. “It kept me up at night knowing you wouldn’t sing anymore.”

            Lance smiles and leans on him. It’s intimate. Keith clasps their hands together.

            _“Ooh love, ooh loverboy/What're you doin' tonight, hey, boy?/Set my alarm, turn on my charm/That's because I'm a good old-fashioned loverboy.”_

            Keith laughs and turns to look at Lance and is caught up in a kiss. Keith returns it.

            _I'd like for you and I to go romancing/Say the word: your wish is my command._


End file.
